The Taj!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay, there have been two monumental travel days (18 and 22 hours), and a lack of reliable connectivity. I am writing from Amritsar, India, home to the Golden Temple and an incredible community of pilgrim Seiks. I’m afraid I don’t know much about the Seik religion, only what I’m seeing here, at their most holy sight. I can say that one of the Holy fellows from the past was a guy who fought in a great battle, was beheaded and continued fighting, carrying his head in his left hand. Pretty bad-ass. I’ll describe a bit more of the Golden Temple after I comment on another monument, the ‘tear drop on the cheek of eternity,’ the Taj Mahal.

The short version of the story is that a wealthy guy about 400 years ago lost his third (and favorite) wife to the childbirth of their 13th child. He was heartbroken and had the Taj built. It is mostly white marble, which gives it a sort of mood-ring aspect in that it captures the colors of the sky at the time. The marble is inlaid with lots of semi-precious stones that capture a different kind of light. Guides would shine a light against the stone to make it glow. The Arabic script around the gateway is slightly bigger at the top to create the illusion that it is the same size all the way up. The inside of the mausoleum (which is what the Taj is) is an astoundingly ornate funerary stand, with carved marble fencing around it. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside, though I’m sure some must be floating around online. The town of Agra was nothing to write home about, so to speak, and the Taj itself, while set in a peaceful garden all to itself, the atmosphere is more touristy than anything else I’ve seen – it was the first place I’ve been where tourists outnumbered Indians.

My health continues to be a sort of struggle – I weighed myself at the train station, and as much as that scale can be trusted I weigh 69kg, which is a bit of a drop for me. Mom, I’m looking forward to some tasty Italian food to bulk me up again! I’m feeling better in general and seeing doctors when I feel the need (it is easy when it costs about 1 dollar to go). While generally getting well sorted out, my health has been more of a concern than I anticipated, taking up considerable energy. I have struggled to balance sight seeing with staying healthy and making more opportunities to eat. I wrote a chunk of this while Grant and Amanda were seeing the border closing which is supposed to be quite a spectacle. I'm not sure I will stay in India until my mom visits in April - I might keep my flight to Stockholm on the 9th to do my recoup (eat-fest) there, so I'll be 100% for mumsies. I want to leave for the right reasons, not jet out of here because I am scared of something, or because I'm uncomfortable (though those are both factors). I have a hard time being dictated to by my body. At the same time, I think I've done pretty well, considering especially that I'm on a trip I wouldn't have considered possible a few years ago. I'm not quite decided and will keep you posted.

In the meantime here's the unrivaled Taj Mahal. I'm sure there are better photos of this floating around, maybe in the room you're in right now, though I humbly submit these. It was kind of a shitty day for me (if you know what I mean). ALSO - I want to wish the warmest of birthdays to my best fellow Joshua whose birthday is today, March 3rd, and to my favorite old man, whose birthday is tomorrow! All my best! Take care all, I look forward to when we can sit down together. Next stop, the Golden Temple! Thanks for reading!